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Just watched the Love Death and Robots episode Beyond the Aquila Rift. I have not yet read the Alastair Reynolds short story upon which the episode was based so maybe some of my questions are answered there. *** So in the episode, the cargo spaceship Blue Goose and her crew end up getting sent off course due to a "routing error" in the portal network. The captain of the Blue Goose wakes up from hibernation to discover his ship is in emergency mode getting towed into an unfamiliar space station. At the station, he's greeted by Greta, an old flame who improbably happens to be all the way out off course. They try to revive the ship's navigator, but she's suffering from hibernation sickness and has to be re-hibernated for her own safety. The captain and Greta have graphic sex that makes up much of the runtime of the episode. Afterward, they try to revive the navigator again. This time she starts raving that Greta isn't Greta and attacks her with a statute of the Virgin Mary, cutting Greta's neck. They're forced to sedate the navigator and put her back in hibernation. Later, presumably after some more sex, the captain notices the cut on Greta's neck has healed and deduces that "Greta" isn't who she appears to be. The tearful Greta confesses that the captain is still asleep and experiencing a simulation. The ship really was knocked off course and ended up at a strange station, but the station is "different." The captain demands Greta show him what she really is. She says that she truly cares for all the lost souls who end up on the station before dissolving the illusion. The captain wakes up in the real world, his body aged and desiccated. His two crewmates are mummified in their shattered capsules and his ship is trapped in a giant spiderweb. Greta turns out to be a horrifying spider! He screams until he passes out, at which point he wakes up in his own tube with no memory of the preceding events. He's greeted by Greta, presumably to repeat the cycle until he dies. *** I have SEVERAL questions: -Were his crewmates dead from the beginning as they appear to have been? If so, why would Greta, who controls the simulation, simulate a crewmate exposing the nature of the simulation? -It wasn't a large cut. Has medical technology not advanced enough by that point to heal a small cut without scarring? -Assuming we take Greta at her word that she is caring for the captain, why is his real body so physically deteriorated? Is the giant spider slowly feasting on him, or is it just negligent in its care? -Again, assuming Greta is non hostile as she claims, I feel she could have communicated the situation better. She's not some Lovecraftian Horror beyond mortal understanding, she's a big, gross spider. Startling, but within our ability to cope. Before dissolving the simulation she could easily have warned him "Your ship is covered in webs and I look like a horrifying spider. Please do not be alarmed, though my appearance is abhorrent to you, I am peaceful and mean you no harm." -If Greta is hostile why bother with the comforting illusion when he's totally at her mercy? -When the captain dreamed he was having sex with Greta, was he actually having sex with the spider IRL? I feel like with adequate warning and assuming the spider was not, in fact, eating him, he could have dealt with that situation without going insane and maybe made contact with the other lost souls on the station? Maybe build up a community there and figure out a way back to civilization. Keeping everyone in endless sims is counterproductive and Greta is a poor communicator.
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 16:05 |
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# ? May 13, 2024 10:25 |
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*I* would have made friends with the spider, is what I'm saying.
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 16:09 |
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I remember that episode and being impressed by it but I can't answer any of those questions. Makes ya think. Sorry Mr Applewhite
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 16:22 |
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I guess the spider could have just kept people knocked out in web stasis but still not be able to like iv them some shake sak and saline, would explain the wastage without making her villainous
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 16:24 |
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he does gently caress the spider, op
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 16:35 |
The captain was starving to death in the real spider world. But that only takes three weeks or so, and to get to the point where you're skin and bones you need to be malnourished for months... if you just stop eating for three weeks you'd die but not be that skinny. So I estimate the captain was eating 500 calories per day (the brain burns 1,000+ per day so 500 calorie deficit for six months would lead you to the brink of death and looking like a holocaust victim). So does the spider have exactly 90,000 calories worth of human food and is slowly rationing the food? But then she said she cares for ALL travelers who end up there, so obviously she has more food stockpiled somewhere. Why would she feed him at such a deficit knowing full well that a human body can only survive for six months tops in those conditions? Also how did his coworkers become mummies? The only plausible explanation is that their hypersleep capsules opened because it takes thousands of years in perfect conditions to produce a mummy. Why didn't the captain's hypersleep capsule open? The logical explanation is that the captain heard rumors about the cosmic space spider who fucks you to death for six straight months, and he sabotaged his crew's pods because they weren't down with a six month orgasm, then he redirected the ship to the space spider.
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 16:39 |
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I remember watching love death and robots but dont really remeber any of the vignettes, all i really remember about it was dorks getting all mad about it cause like netflix called them gay or something?
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 16:40 |
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the best one was buster scruggs
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 16:59 |
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Dignity Van Houten posted:The captain was starving to death in the real spider world. But that only takes three weeks or so, and to get to the point where you're skin and bones you need to be malnourished for months... if you just stop eating for three weeks you'd die but not be that skinny. So I estimate the captain was eating 500 calories per day (the brain burns 1,000+ per day so 500 calorie deficit for six months would lead you to the brink of death and looking like a holocaust victim). poo poo I think you just cracked this case wide open.
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 17:08 |
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i watched the first one of season 2 and it was so boring i havent watched any more. oh wow a cleaning robot that tries to kill you. epic. 15 minutes of that? great
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 17:09 |
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On balance, Love, Death and Robots is not particularly good.
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 17:14 |
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I wonder if they ever posted what the cost to make of each of the LD&R episodes was. Computer CGI is a mystery to me. It seems like these days people can make these full CGI shorts in their homes that have quality on par with FF: The Spirits Within.
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 17:55 |
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Vakal posted:I wonder if they ever posted what the cost to make of each of the LD&R episodes was.
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# ? Jun 3, 2021 18:42 |
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Where's that spider tits poster when you need 'em?!?
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 00:11 |
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Inexplicable Humblebrag posted:he does gently caress the spider, op obviously. And the answer to most of these question is that the spider is hella evil and thinks it's funny to mess with the guy while she fucks him/drains his life force
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 00:45 |
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Colonel Cancer posted:Where's that spider tits poster when you need 'em?!? jfc how many weird fetish gimmick accounts are there now
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 00:45 |
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Vim Fuego posted:obviously. And the answer to most of these question is that the spider is hella evil and thinks it's funny to mess with the guy while she fucks him/drains his life force While I agree that it's possible the spider is evil, a strict interpretation of the text allows for some ambiguity there. One the one hand, we have the fact that instead of easing him into the acceptance of his new reality, she reboots his consciousness so he's unable to come to grips with his situation, caught in a presumably endless cycle of horror. Does she do this to toy with him so she can enjoy the look on his face over and over again? On the other hand we have her seemingly genuine insistence that she cares for the lost souls on the station, and the aforementioned fact that she's keeping the captain alive and tries to protect him from the pain of losing his crew. Is his poor physical state the result of not knowing or being unable to properly care for humans? In conclusion, the space spider monster is a land of contrasts.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 02:20 |
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I really like Love, Death and Robots. I haven't seen the second season yet tho. But I thought the first was really good. Also I choose to believe the spider was trying its best but it's a spider, not a people, so that poo poo is hard. It doesn't want to deny Captain Picard the choice of waking to reality but needs to reboot the process cause he can't handle it. Poor spider. Wanting to let people choose but also wanting to stop people from being harmed.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 02:47 |
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The captain is a big baby if he can't handle being courteous to a sentient being despite its exterior appearance.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 02:54 |
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I didnt read the book, but I thought one implication about the portal malfunctioning was that they were like Voyager lost and there was no way they could ever get home. So even in the simulation, they're just basically waiting around to die. After listening to the spider's description of wanting to 'save' them, I got the impression that the other crew members had died in flight, and that the spider had caught the ship sorta like Ripley's escape pod in the opening scene of Aliens. Season two isn't very good.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 03:06 |
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If I recall I got the impression she's just doing her best, but she's not human so she's screwing up a bit. It doesn't matter how you feed a person, they'll atrophy if you keep them asleep without exercise. She's tried waking him and he freaks the gently caress out so she's just gonna keep him in fantasy-land, she'll try to get one that he accepts forever eventually, it's just taking a few iterations.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 03:14 |
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Applewhite posted:In conclusion, the space spider monster is a land of contrasts. Space spider is less contradictory in the original story, but they had to make some cuts in favor of more spider-sex. Also an even better short story in this vein is The Other Dead Man by Gene Wolfe, but 1) it's completely impossible to do as TV 2) it doesn't have any loving
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 03:17 |
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Applewhite posted:On balance, Love, Death and Robots is not particularly good. They should just keep adapting Alistair Reynolds stories those were the best ones.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 03:20 |
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Gonna need some illustrations of what you think is giong on here.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 03:20 |
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MikeJF posted:They should just keep adapting Alistair Reynolds stories those were the best ones. Yes, but then you'll eventually get to the multiple stories where the main character convinces mothers and daughters into weird sex.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 03:21 |
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Spazzle posted:Gonna need some illustrations of what you think is giong on here. Personally I think they're just having imaginary sex because when they're in the illusion she's touching him but when the illusion breaks she's all the way across some kind of chasm. It would be pretty strange if she could simulate touch but for the sex parts she actually put her pediapalps on his dick.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 03:23 |
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This was my favorite episode. Calling Greta a "spider" doesn't really do her justice either.Applewhite posted:
I took it to be that the navigator was undergoing the same simulation the captain was. Furthermore, although she calls it a dream at one point, I think they're actually awake - he's just experiencing the reality Greta wants him to experience - hence the reason she's able to just instantly drop the illusion on command. The navigator was likely killed in retaliation for the attack on Greta (the other guy looks like he has been dead for some time - her corpse still looks rather fresh). quote:-It wasn't a large cut. Has medical technology not advanced enough by that point to heal a small cut without scarring? Eh, we've sent people to walk on the moon and can't magically heal cuts. Maybe we're already at the peak of cut-healing technology. quote:-Assuming we take Greta at her word that she is caring for the captain, why is his real body so physically deteriorated? Is the giant spider slowly feasting on him, or is it just negligent in its care? Greta likely doesn't understand why her guests are sick and dying. Ever put fireflies in a jar and keep them on your nightstand as a kid? Never ended well for the fireflies either. quote:-Again, assuming Greta is non hostile as she claims, I feel she could have communicated the situation better. She's not some Lovecraftian Horror beyond mortal understanding, she's a big, gross spider. Startling, but within our ability to cope. Before dissolving the simulation she could easily have warned him "Your ship is covered in webs and I look like a horrifying spider. Please do not be alarmed, though my appearance is abhorrent to you, I am peaceful and mean you no harm." quote:-If Greta is hostile why bother with the comforting illusion when he's totally at her mercy? She's not hostile, she's curious. quote:-When the captain dreamed he was having sex with Greta, was he actually having sex with the spider IRL? Yeah this one is gross but I'm going to assume no. The spidermonster is just trying to get her new friend to relax and put his mind at ease I would imagine. She can make him see whatever she wants him to see - or more to the point, what she thinks he wants to see. quote:I feel like with adequate warning and assuming the spider was not, in fact, eating him, he could have dealt with that situation without going insane and maybe made contact with the other lost souls on the station? Maybe build up a community there and figure out a way back to civilization. Keeping everyone in endless sims is counterproductive and Greta is a poor communicator. See above. I doubt Greta thinks that way.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 03:25 |
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In the short story, it's a big deal that the "routing error" has sent them a long way from home; like everyone they know and love will have aged a decade or two while they've been traversing wormholes. Then there's the big reveal that they're not just "beyond the aquila rift"; they're actually in another galaxy or something and everyone they know will have been dead for centuries. The routing stuff is really interesting in the original story. All the ships have to be covered in the right symbols and syntax to ensure the aeons-old coding in the wormhole network shoots you off to where you actually want to go.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 03:44 |
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Frank Frank posted:See above. I doubt Greta thinks that way. How come Greta can reach into the captain's mind and pull out his most subtle memories but can't form a spider analogy? Also, she knows what's abhorrent to humans because she knows she is abhorrent to human eyes, hence her reluctance to drop the illusion. If she had no idea he'd be scared by her I feel she'd just introduce herself in her true form. Frank Frank posted:The navigator was likely killed in retaliation for the attack on Greta (the other guy looks like he has been dead for some time - her corpse still looks rather fresh). I'll have to go back and re-watch, I missed this detail on the first viewing.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 04:06 |
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Tree Bucket posted:In the short story, it's a big deal that the "routing error" has sent them a long way from home; like everyone they know and love will have aged a decade or two while they've been traversing wormholes. Then there's the big reveal that they're not just "beyond the aquila rift"; they're actually in another galaxy or something and everyone they know will have been dead for centuries. Think Mark.jpg but with the spider crouching over the captain's desiccated body.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 04:06 |
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Frank Frank posted:
So what is the navigator doing when she's in hibernation in the dream?
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 04:08 |
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i like the one with the big naked guy, you see the size of that guys dick?
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 04:10 |
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The spider eats our horniness op thats its sustenance.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 04:12 |
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Caesar Saladin posted:i like the one with the big naked guy, you see the size of that guys dick? I did I did see it It was really big
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 04:16 |
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Caesar Saladin posted:i like the one with the big naked guy, you see the size of that guys dick? Which one was that??
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 04:18 |
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Applewhite posted:Which one was that?? S2E8 Gulliver's Weiner
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 04:30 |
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Applewhite posted:So what is the navigator doing when she's in hibernation in the dream? It appears the navigator isn't as susceptible to the dream state as the captain as she sees through the illusion as soon as she wakes up. Greta mentioned the "she has to be put back in hibernation" thing has happened multiple times. quote:How come Greta can reach into the captain's mind and pull out his most subtle memories but can't form a spider analogy? 1) I mean this is like asking how Galdalf's magic works. 2) She knows has he has reacted previously. She probably doesn't understand why he reacts the way he does. How could she? She has no frame of reference. Frank Frank fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Jun 4, 2021 |
# ? Jun 4, 2021 04:34 |
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She has the frame of reference of his memories, IMO. She also controls the dream. She could put a spider monster in the dream as a neutral NPC to acclimatize him to her visage. So are the spider people the original portal builders do you think?
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 04:48 |
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She just wants to care for people and I think it's prejudice to say otherwise. Stop being mean goons.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 05:04 |
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# ? May 13, 2024 10:25 |
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A wizard did it.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 05:05 |